Bluetooth

Software version 4.1.57 for the Motorola ATRIX 4G is now available. The 17MB file, issued by Motorola, adds a number of improvements but is not the expected AT&T update that includes HSUPA support. After downloading the update, Motorola says users should notice the following changes:

Bluetooth: Improved multimedia experience with Bluetooth devices as well as the ability to use phone with additional headsets.

Fingerprint reader: Improved fingerprint reader performance.

Battery: Improved battery performance for longer battery life.

Screen: Display will turn off automatically now while charging directly on wall charger.

It’s been reported that the update may cause some issues with those who have rooted their phones. ATT has said that the upcoming HSUPA software update, which should ratchet up upload speeds on the ATRIX 4G and Inspire 4G, will land in April. Hit the jump for instructions on installing software version 4.1.57 on your ATRIX 4G.

Mmm mmm do we ever love it when carriers pick up awesome handsets at awesome prices. Today, after a mind boggling number of delays, AT&T begun selling the Nokia E71x on its website for the incredibly attractive price of $99 on a two-year contract. And while the notion of using a phone that was announced in the summer of 2008 might be unthinkable to some who are accustomed to the very latest in tech, we find it pretty hard to argue against a full-QWERTY S60 device with a 3.2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, aGPS, Bluetooth 2.0 and HSDPA connectivity, especially when the device in question is Kate Moss thin at 10mm.

As part of the whole discussion on the leaked Nokia promotional video about a month ago, the existence of the mysterious Eseries phone, the E63, has come to light. Much of the phone still remains a mystery but we do have some new spy shots to confirm its existence and few leaked details on the handset itself courtesy of the Telefon-Tredd.de forums. This is all rumor so take it with a healthy grain of salt. The Nokia E63 is purported to come in three variants: the E63-1: for Europe, the E63-2: without a camera and more memory (?), and E63-3: for the Americas. According to a user agent profile on Nokia servers and from the spy shooter himself, the E63 will have the following specs:

GSM and GPRS + EDGE

UMTS + HSDPA

Display: 240 x 320 Pixel, 18bit

Camera: At least 2MP. No Front Camera.

WLAN

Bluetooth

Symbian v9.1

S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1

MIDP 2.0 and CLDC 1.1

Has 3.5 mm jack connector

Is thicker than E71

Has a flashlight function (which by pressing the space bar immediately activated and can be disabled)

Some of us like our Bluetooth headsets tiny, sleek and unobtrusive, and then there are those of us who unapologetically prefer a honking giant of an ear piece worthy of the Borg. The new Sony PS3 Bluetooth headset (aka the CEJH-15002), optimized for games such SOCOM: Confrontation, Resistance 2 and MotorStorm 2, fits the latter description perfectly.

Aside from the gloriously sci-fi black casing, the unit offers noise canceling, 8 hours of talk time, will automatically pair with your PS3 and comes with a sweet USB cradle (holster?). Set to hit retail on October 30th, the sexy ear cannon can be yours for just 5,000 yen ($46) here.

We’ve already seen phones like the HTC Touch Diamond and Touch Pro, but according to some legit-looking internal documentation, the HTC Opal is the official sequel to the original HTC Touch. Word has it that the Opal will ship with the 3D TouchFLO interface we’ve seen in the latest HTC products (which makes sense), but unfortunately, the spec sheet dated from July shows that the Opal still lacks 3G and features the same 200MHz processor as its predecessor.

HTC Touch Diamond not working out for you? We get it, you want a physical QWERTY keyboard. Oh, Touch Pro a little too big? You want something a little more simpler, huh? Starting today, HTC looks to fill that gap. They’ve just announced the HTC S740 and it features the same styling as the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro, features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and a numerical keyboard on the front. The only difference? It runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard. Here’s a run down of the specs:

116.3 x 43.4 x 16.3 mm

GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

WCDMA/HSDPA: 900/2100 MHz (we’d guess there is a 850/1900MHz UMTS/HSDPA version in the works, supports HSDPA 3.6Mbps and HSDPA 7.2Mbps)

2.4″ QVGA screen

3.2 megapixel camera

Qualcomm® MSM7225, 528 MHz

256MB flash ROM, 256MB RAM

microSD slot

140g

1000mAh battery

Wi-Fi b,g

aGPS

Bluetooth 2.0

FM radio

Pretty much the most feature-packed Windows Mobile Standard device, no? Enjoy the pics while we phone up our HTC ninjas — we want this thing!

Nokia held a virtual press event this morning during which two new handsets were announced. Both fall into Nokia’s “XpressMusic” line (where the S60 Touch-wielding 5800 will end up) and are affordable options scheduled to become available in Q3 of this year. In our opinion the most important part of today’s announcement was that once again, Nokia announced both European and US versions of each handset… At the same time! The 5320 even packs 3G / HSDPA (AT&T bands, sorry T-Mobile guys). Let’s check the specs:

5220 XpressMusic

S40 OS

Two versions, 850/1800/1900 MHz, the other 900/1800/1900 MHz

2 megapixel camera

240 x 320 pixel display, 256K colors

FM radio and A2DP stereo bluetooth

3.5 mm headphone jack

microSDHC support

1020 mAh battery with a reported 24 hours of music playback on a single charge

5320 XpressMusic

S60 OS (S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2)

Two versions each quad-band GSM, one with 850/2100 MHz 3G / HSPDA and the other with 900/2100 MHz 3G / HSDPA

2 megapixel camera

240 x 320 pixel display with 16M colors

FM radio and A2DP stereo bluetooth

3.5 mm headphone jack

microSDHC support

890 mAh battery with a reported 24 hours of music playback on a single charge

Odd that the 5320 is an S60 device with an 890 mAh battery and yet the claimed battery life for music playback is the same as the 5220, an S40 handset with a 1020 mAh battery. Oh well, only time will tell. Of note, the 5320 is the first Nokia handset to feature “Say and Play” technology, which is just like the Microsoft Sync option found in a bunch American cars these days. It’s exactly what you think it would be: Speak an artist or song name and the music player will play it. Pretty cool actually. The 5220 will run you about $250 (€160) once it’s released and the 5320 should be around $400 (€250). Both devices are competitively priced and we could definitely see a carrier picking up either one, although the 5220 is probably the more likely candidate here in the US (T-Mobile?).